Guinta sole legislator from Maine, N.H. to reject cliff deal

Thursday

Jan 3, 2013 at 3:15 AMJan 3, 2013 at 5:22 AM

FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

DOVER — As he prepared to end his first term in office, New Hampshire Rep. Frank Guinta joined a minority of House members in voting to reject the fiscal cliff bargain struck by Republican leaders and the White House.

The U.S. House passed a bill Tuesday that shields millions of Americans from tax increases that were scheduled to take effect this month. The vote came less than 24 hours after the Senate approved the bill.

Guinta was the sole House member from Maine or New Hampshire who opposed the deal. It was passed by a tally of 257 votes in favor to 167 votes against.

Guinta said Wednesday he was “fundamentally disappointed” in the agreement, which he said fails to accomplish “true structural reform on spending.”

“I don't think it addresses the long-term issues that we have,” Guinta said. “It doesn't address the deficit. It doesn't address the debt.”

Guinta said the negotiations surrounding the deal were rushed because Democrats postponed discussion until after the 2012 presidential election was settled. He singled out Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for criticism, saying Reid politicized the fiscal cliff bargain and refused to entertain discussion on spending reforms.

“We, in the House of Representatives, back on Aug. 1, passed an extension of all the (tax) rates,” Guinta said, referring to a Republican House proposal that kept tax rates steady for wealthy and middle class Americans alike. “That was at Harry Reid's desk for months.”

The bill that Congress approved this week calls for higher taxes on income over $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples, a victory for Obama. Earnings above those amounts would be taxed at a rate of 39.6 percent, up from the current 35 percent.

It also delays for two months $109 billion worth of across-the-board spending cuts that had been set to start affecting the Pentagon and domestic agencies this week.

If lawmakers had not agreed by the Jan. 1, 2013 deadline on the new budget measures, more than $500 billion in tax increases would have hit the economy in 2013 alone. Government spending worth $109 billion would have been cut from the military and domestic spending programs.

Voting in favor of the fiscal cliff deal were 172 House Democrats and 85 Republicans, including New Hampshire 2nd District Congressman Charles Bass.

Maine's two congressmen also supported the bill. Democratic U.S. Reps. Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree say the bill protects working families, prevents milk prices from rising sharply and extends tax credits that will benefit families and create jobs. Michaud said without the legislation, Maine residents would have paid an additional $1.4 billion in taxes in 2013.

Maine's two senators joined New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican, and Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, in also voting to support the fiscal cliff agreement.

Though fears over an imminent fall off the “fiscal cliff” have eased, investors still have a host of issues to worry about. The next possible point of contention will be in two months' time, when U.S. politicians will debate the debt ceiling and spending cuts that did not make it into the latest deal.

“While the president was insistent on raising taxes, I voted to spare as many Americans as possible from getting hit by tax increases,” Ayotte said in a prepared statement. “Now it's time for the president and Congress to cut spending and come up with real reforms to get us out of our crippling $16 trillion debt.

Foster's staff writer Jim Haddadin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.